Olivia “Liv” Hurst never planned on becoming a chef—she just needed gas money. At 16, a job making tableside guacamole at the now-shuttered Uncle Julio’s turned into a lifelong love affair with restaurant kitchens. A few years and several Buckhead Life Restaurant Group kitchens later, including a stretch at Kyma under executive chef Pano Karatassos, Hurst found herself outside the perimeter for the first time in her life, taking a sous chef job at a young, still-forming steakhouse in Alpharetta called Cattle Shed. Within months, the executive chef position was hers.
Five years in, Hurst has shaped Cattle Shed into a steakhouse that doesn’t play by traditional steakhouse rules. Here, octopus outsells duck confit, house-made pasta shares menu space with dry-aged cuts, and a 2022 Chopped win still fuels her confidence in the kitchen.
DiningOut caught up with Hurst to swap stories, recipes, and musings over death row meals.
Rapid Fire
What was your biggest challenge after becoming executive chef?
“Imposter syndrome, for sure.” Hurst was used to being a leader, but suddenly she was the person everyone else was looking to. “I didn’t deserve it, I wasn’t good enough for it,” she remembers thinking, until she finally learned to get out of her own head and trust her instincts.
What surprised you most about cooking in Alpharetta?
That diners would embrace dishes outside the traditional steakhouse playbook. “We have octopus on our menu, and people love it,” she says. Meanwhile, a duck leg confit that she expected to be approachable “was actually the opposite.” The lesson? “You gotta listen to people at the end of the day.”
Favorite cut of beef?
Ribeye, hands down. “The bone, the spinalis cap, and the fat and flavor of a ribeye is definitely a superior cut.” For versatility, though, she recommends a flank steak, which can be marinated, grilled or braised and takes on flavor beautifully.
Most memorable kitchen disaster?
At 19, while working at Kyma, Hurst tried to pull a 22-quart container of lamb and chicken marinade off a high shelf. It tipped. “It was in my socks. It was in my underwear. It was in my ears.” She went into service anyway, and now asks taller coworkers to retrieve things from the top shelf.
Raw beef: terrifying or underrated?
Underrated. Hurst says a good tartare is about much more than raw meat, with ingredients like egg yolk, horseradish and capers adding layers of flavor. “As long as you have a high-quality beef product and a knife, you can totally make tartare at home.”
A technique you’re obsessed with right now?
Spherification. Hurst has been playing with agar agar to create balsamic and orange “pearls,” describing them as “boba, but it’s mixed with a Gusher. Like it bursts into your mouth.”
A recent experiment that flopped?
A sweet-and-spicy three-pepper relish. She added too much salt to the vinegar mixture, only realizing the extent of the problem once it had reduced. “I had to throw away the whole thing and start completely over.” Her takeaway: “We’re all human. At the end of the day, we all make mistakes.”
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing?
“I’d probably be in the military.” Hurst says she likes structure, clarity, and pressure—all qualities she finds in a professional kitchen. She’d also happily return to the competition circuit. “Chopped was like the most stressful situation I’ve ever been in, and I would 1,000% do it again.”
Describe your perfect day off.
“Sit by the pool and do nothing. Or go out to eat somewhere and have someone else cook and clean for me.”
A few Atlanta go-tos?
KR SteakBar, the Chastain, and, for a more casual night, Tre Vele in Sandy Springs. “They have a great bar vibe,” she says of the latter. “I like to just go get their artichokes, and then get their eggplant parm and drink a couple glasses of wine. It’s lovely.”
When did you become a wine person?
At Cattle Shed. “Wine can be so complex,” Hurst says, citing the way soil, region, and even the year’s rain can affect a bottle. Her gateway wine was a dry French rosé. Her philosophy? “There’s no season for rosé. It’s always rosé.”
Your biggest food hot take?
Don’t rinse your pasta. Don’t rinse your chicken. And don’t judge someone for ordering a well-done burger “as long as it’s still juicy in the middle.” The one thing she won’t abide? Ketchup on steak.
Guilty pleasure food?
“I eat pizza rolls at least twice a week,” she admits. “I also love salt and vinegar chips…and the little snack pack of seaweed. I could munch on those all day long.”
DO: What do you actually cook at home?
“I don’t do it a lot,” she says. “I spend all day cooking, but I don’t want to clean.” Her go-tos include salmon with green beans or rice, pasta, ramen, and plenty of snack food. “I am snacking all day,” she says. “By the time I get home, the last thing I really want is a big meal.”
What’s your death row meal?
“My grandma’s spaghetti and meat sauce,” she says without skipping a beat, “or Thanksgiving leftovers…I love Thanksgiving food.”
If you could take a food tour of any country, which would it be?
“I would love to go back to Italy and actually tour the whole country. But if it wasn’t Italy, I would have to say probably Spain…just eat and drink my way through.”
The Recipe
Chef Liv Hurst’s Guajillo Steak Tacos With Salsa Verde
Chef Liv Hurst served these tacos at RARE Steak Championship, Atlanta’s inaugural steakhouse showcase—proof that even at a steak-and-wine bar, there’s always room for something you can eat with your hands.
Serves: 4
Yield: Approximately 8–12 tacos
Guajillo-Marinated Steak
Ingredients
- 12 dried guajillo chiles
- 5 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds flank steak
Method
- Toast the guajillo chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, taking care not to burn them.
- Transfer the chiles to a bowl, cover with water and soak for 30 minutes.
- Drain the chiles and remove the stems. Add the chiles, garlic, apple cider vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Place the flank steak in a shallow dish or resealable bag and coat it thoroughly with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
- Remove the steak from the refrigerator and discard any excess marinade. Grill to your preferred doneness, then allow the meat to rest before slicing it thinly against the grain.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds tomatillos, about 12 medium
- ½ cup chopped white onion
- 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled, optional
- ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- Kosher salt, to taste
Method
- Remove the papery husks from the tomatillos and rinse them well. Cut the tomatillos in half and arrange them cut-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- If using garlic, add the unpeeled cloves to the baking sheet.
- Broil for 5–7 minutes, or until the tomatillo skins are lightly blackened. Peel the roasted garlic.
- Transfer the tomatillos and garlic to a blender or food processor. Add the onion, cilantro, lime juice and peppers. Pulse until finely chopped and combined.
- Season with salt to taste. For a spicier salsa, leave the seeds in the peppers.
To Assemble
Ingredients
- 8–12 flour or corn tortillas, warmed
- Guajillo-marinated steak, sliced
- Salsa verde
- Lime wedges
Divide the sliced steak among the warm tortillas and spoon salsa verde over the top. Serve immediately with lime wedges. Enjoy!
